The 46-member Council of Europe’s European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI)has published conclusions on the implementation by Bosnia and Herzegovina of its recommendations provided in 2024, for which priority follow-up was requested.
Despite progress towards inclusive education, ethnic divisions persist in schools in Bosnia and Herzegovina, while longstanding discrimination in the country’s electoral system remains unresolved, according to new ECRI findings
In its latest conclusions, ECRI acknowledges efforts to make education more inclusive, including measures to support Roma children and other groups vulnerable to discrimination. However, it finds that these initiatives remain fragmented, unevenly implemented and insufficient to tackle discrimination across the education system.
Of particular concern is the continued practice of “two schools under one roof”, which separates pupils along ethnic lines in several cantons of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, despite binding domestic court rulings finding such arrangements discriminatory.
In Republika Srpska, disputes over language rights, insufficiently inclusive curricula and persistent barriers to inter-ethnic understanding also undermine efforts to create a genuinely inclusive school environment. ECRI therefore concludes that its priority recommendation on eliminating discrimination in education has not been implemented.
Electoral discrimination: reforms still pending 17 years after landmark judgment
ECRI also highlights the lack of concrete progress towards ending discrimination in Bosnia and Herzegovina’s electoral system, following the European Court of Human Rights’ landmark 2009 judgment in Sejdić and Finci v. Bosnia and Herzegovina. Under the current constitutional and electoral framework, people who do not belong to the country’s three constituent peoples remain excluded from standing for election to key political institutions. Although the authorities adopted a revised action plan in July 2025 and established a working group in October 2025 to prepare constitutional and electoral amendments, ECRI finds that these steps have yet to produce meaningful legislative reform. Seventeen years after the Strasbourg Court’s judgment, the discriminatory restrictions remain in place. ECRI therefore concludes that its second priority recommendation has also not been implemented.
